Industrial robots are nowadays an obvious part of a production site performing repetitive and sometimes heavy working tasks. The robots can work day and night and provide cost competitive products. Conventionally, the robot is bolted to the floor or movable along a rail, and thereby bound to a permanent position or area at a working site where the robot is to perform the working task. An industrial robot is however a rather expensive purchase, and it may be an advantage if the robot can be used for different working tasks at different locations.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,016 A a system is described for allowing one robot to perform working tasks at a plurality of work locations. The robot is fixedly mounted on a pallet, and a fork lift can transport the pallet and the robot mounted thereon to a work station. A control enclosure with a robot controller may be secured to the pallet. When placed at the work station, the robot uses a loose position sensor for relating itself relative to the work station.
In some areas humans still do working tasks that are in need of safe solutions. Preferably, humans should not be present at a working site where dangerous working tasks are to be done. Because of the complexity of the working tasks, the inaccessibility of the working location and because of costs, these tasks have not immediately been considered for robot applications. Robots are able to perform more and more complicated tasks, for example because of more advanced technology and new accessories for the robots. However, because of poor accessibility for industrial robots at certain working sites many dangerous working tasks are still performed by humans.